CSR Reporting as an Important Tool of CSR Communication

AbstractThe article focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the importance of reports within communication of CSR. 1953 is considered to be a breakthrough year, when it was first referred to the definition of social responsibility. CSR is a trend that appeals to change of business orientation from short-term to long-term goals and from maximum to optimum profit. CSR reports, respectively triple-bottom-line reports have become tool of communication for Corporate Social Responsibility. Those are a voluntary comprehensive reports involving not only economic data, but also information from environmental and social field. These reports tell about the company policy in relationship to the environment, sustainability, or there are directly focused on fulfilling the commitments accepted by the company within the concept of social responsibility. CSR report can help to bring a systematic approach into the management of socially responsible activities, identify future risks and opportunities and thereby contribute to increasing the competitiveness of business and maintain the possibility for long-term business venture. Information is not only for the company, but on the basis of them enterprise can partly to create decision-making process of different types of stakeholders. This article points out how the CSR report is used by businesses and how socially responsible activities through CSR reports are perceived by Slovak customer. We will use secondary information collected from marketing agencies surveys and primary information collected from own survey. We will use these methods: analysis, synthesis and deduction

Genetic diversity and production potential of animal food resources

Article Details: Received: 2020-05-21 | Accepted: 2020-06-02 | Available online: 2020-06-30https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.02.102-108The submission aims to present results of the five-year research project, oriented on the evaluation of genetic diversity of selected populations of economically important animal species in Slovakia, their sustainable adaptation and production potential in the context of preservation of genetic resources and food safety. Under the supervision of Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Biology, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra run between 2015- 2019 project called Molecular-genetic diversity and production potential of animal genetic resources in Slovakia (APVV-14-0054). Considering the difficulty and complexity of studied issues was research realized in close collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) and Zagreb University. Erosion of genetic diversity represents the main threat for food safety of mankind. Individuals of economically important animal species groups accumulate risks and threats of loss of sustainable adaptation as a reaction to the environment due to intense selective breeding. It is therefore important and needed to focus on permanent monitoring and evaluation of diversity of economically important breeds based on the diverse parameter and suitable methods.Keywords: Genetic diversity, economically important breeds, Animal genetic resources, SlovakiaReferencesKADLEČÍK, O., HAZUCHOVÁ, E., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KUKUČKOVÁ, V. (2017b). Genetic diversity in Slovak spotted breed. AGROFOR, 2(3), 124–131.KADLEČÍK, O., HAZUCHOVÁ, E., PAVLÍK, I. and KASARDA, R. (2016). Genetická diverzita slovenského strakatého a holštajnského dobytka (1. vyd). Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.KADLEČÍK, O., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KASARDA, R. (2017a). Biodiverzita populácií zvierat. Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.KASARDA, R., KADLEČÍK, O. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2019b). Genetická diverzita slovenského pinzgauského plemena (1. vyd). Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.KASARDA, R., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2019c). Genomic and pedigree-based inbreeding in Slovak Spotted cattle. AGROFOR, 4(1), 102–110.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2016d). Spatial structure of the Lipizzan horse gene pool based on microsatellite variations analysis. AGROFOR, 1(2), 125–132.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2018d). Genetic structure of warmblood horses on molecular-genetic level. Agriculture and Forestry, 64(1), 7–13.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and POKORÁDI, J. (2016a). Manažment farmového chovu a biodiverzita jeleňa lesného na Slovensku. Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and VLČEK, M. (2018b). Genetic parameters of claw traits and milk yield in Slovak Holstein cattle. V Genetic days 2018 (s. 24). České Budějovice: University of South Bohemia.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., CANDRÁK, J., MÉSZÁROS, G., VLČEK, M., KUKUČKOVÁ, V. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2017b). Genome-wide mixed model association study in population of Slovak Pinzgau cattle. Agriculturae conspectus scientificus, 82(3), 267–271.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., HALO, M., HORNÝ, M., LEHOCKÁ, K., OLŠANSKÁ, B., BUJKO, J. and CANDRÁK, J. (2019e). Trend vývoja genomického inbrídingu v populácii plemena lipican. V Aktuálne smerovanie v chove koní (1. s. 32– 36). Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and CANDRÁK, J. (2018a). The impact of artificial selection on runs of homozygosity in Slovak Spotted and Pinzgau cattle. Slovak journal of animal science, 51(3), 91–103.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., HALO, M. and CANDRÁK, J. (2019a). Level of inbreeding in Norik of muran horse: Pedigree vs. Genomic data. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 67(6), 1457–1463.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., ŽITNÝ, J., TERPAJ, V.P., MINDEKOVÁ, S. and NEUPANE MLYNEKOVÁ, L. (2019d). Common origin of local cattle breeds in western region of Carpathians. Danubian Animal Genetic Resource, 4, 37–42.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and MÉSZÁROS, G. (2016c). Evidence of selective sweeps through haplotype structure of Pinzgau cattle. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 107(5), 160–164.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2016b). Progress in methodology of genetic diversity monitoring in pinzgau cattle. Slovak journal of animal science, 49(4), 176.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2017a). Characterization of Slovak dual-purpose cattle breed diversity based on genomic data. Slovak journal of animal science, 50(4), 165.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MÉSZÁROS, G. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2015). Genome-wide selection signatures in Pinzgau cattle. Potravinárstvo, 9(1), 268–274.KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., VOSTRÁ, L., KRUPOVÁ, Z., KRUPA, E., LEHOCKÁ, K., OLŠANSKÁ, B., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., NÁDASKÝ, R., ŽIDEK, R., BELEJ, Ľ., GOLIAN, J. and POLÁK, P. (2020). Fine-scale analysis of six beef cattle breeds revealed patterns of their genomic diversity. Italian Journal of Animal Science, in review.KASARDA, R., VLČEK, M., CANDRÁK, J. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2018c). Estimation of heritability for claw traits in Holstein cattle using Bayesian and REML approaches. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 19(4), 784–790.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., KASARDA, R. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2017a). Genomic characterisation of Slovak pinzgau cattle (1st ed). Praha: Wolters Kluwer.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., KASARDA, R., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., CURIK, I. and FERENČAKOVIC, M. (2016a). Extent of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium in Pinzgau cattle. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 17(1), 294–302.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., KASARDA, R., ŽITNÝ, J. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2018a). Genetic markers and biostatistical methods as  appropriate tools to preserve genetic resources. AGROFOR, 3(2), 41–48.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KASARDA, R. (2016c). Genomic determination of the most important father lines of Slovak Pinzgau cows. AGROFOR, 1(3), 110–118.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., CURIK, I., SIMČIČ, M., MÉSZÁROS, G. and KASARDA, R. (2018b). Genetic diversity of local cattle. Acta Biochimica Polonica, 65(3), 421–424.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., FERENČAKOVIĆ, M., SIMČIČ, M., MÉSZÁROS, G., SÖLKNER, J., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O., CURIK, I. and KASARDA, R. (2017b). Genomic characterization of Pinzgau cattle: genetic conservation and breeding perspectives. Conservation Genetics, 18(4), 893–910.KUKUČKOVÁ, V., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and KASARDA, R. (2016b). Genetic differentiation of Slovak Pinzgau, Simmental, Charolais and Holstein cattle based on the linkage disequilibrium, persistence of phase and effective population size. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 107(Suppl. 5), 37–40.LEHOCKÁ, K., KASARDA, R., OLŠANSKÁ, B., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2019b). Different ways to compute genomic inbreeding. V Scientific conference of PhD. students of FAFR and FBFS with international participation (1., s. 18). Nitra: Slovak University of Agriculture.LEHOCKÁ, K., KASARDA, R., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2019a). Genomic diversity and level of admixture in the Slovak Spotted cattle. V AgroSym 2019, 1607– 1612. Bosna: University of East Sarajevo.LEHOCKÁ, K., OLŠANSKÁ, B., KASARDA, R., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2020). The genetic structure of slovak spotted cattle based on genomewide analysis. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 68(1), 57–61.MILUCHOVÁ, M., GÁBOR, M., CANDRÁK, J., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and CANDRÁKOVÁ, K. (2018). Association of HindIIIpolymorphism in kappa-casein gene with milk, fat and protein yield in holstein cattle. Acta Biochimica Polonica, 65(3), 403–407.MILUCHOVÁ, M., GÁBOR, M., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and CANDRÁKOVÁ, E. (2018). Polymorphism and genetic structure CSNSI gene in Lacaune sheep population. V Genetic days 2018 (s. 59). České Budějovice: University of South Bohemia.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., CANDRÁK, J., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and KASARDA, R. (2018e). Genome-Wide Association Study for milk production traits in Slovak spotted cattle. V Genetic days 2018 (s. 21). České Budějovice: University of South Bohemia.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KADLEČÍK, O., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and KASARDA, R. (2018d). Autozygosity island resulting from artificial selection in Slovak spotted cattle. Agriculture and Forestry, 64(1), 21–28.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2017a). Genetic improvement of cattle through low density SNP panels. V AgroSym 2017 (s. 2212–2219). Sarajevo: Univerzitet u Sarajev.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2017b). The degree of genetic admixture within species from genus cervus. Agriculture and Forestry, 63(1), 137–143.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R., HALO, M., LEHOCKÁ, K., OLŠANSKÁ, B. and CANDRÁK, J. (2019a). Vplyv selekcie na genóm slovenského teplokrvníka. V Aktuálne smerovanie v  chove koní (1., s. 48–52). Nitra: Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R., KUKUČKOVÁ, V. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2017d). Effective population size and genomic inbreeding in Slovak Pinzgau cattle. Agriculturae conspectus scientificus, 82(2), 97–100.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., VOSTRÝ, L. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2016). Genetic diversity of old Kladruber and Nonius horse populations through microsatellite variation analysis. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 107(Suppl. 5), 45–49.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KASARDA, R., ŽITNÝ, J., TRAKOVICKÁ, A. and KADLEČÍK, O. (2018a). Validation of bovine 50K SNP chip transfer ability into non-model wild animals. Slovak journal of animal science, 51(4), 180.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., MÉSZÁROS, G., SÖLKNER, J., KADLEČÍK, O. and KASARDA, R. (2017c). Assessing footprints of natural selection through PCA analysis in cattle. Acta fytotechnica et zootechnica, 20(2), 23–27.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., SIMČIČ, M., MESZÁROŠ, G., SÖLKNER, J., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., VLČEK, M., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and KASARDA, R. (2018c). Genomic response to natural selection within alpine cattle breeds. Czech journal of animal science, 63(4), 136–143.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and KASARDA, R. (2018b). Bioinformatics tools for analysis of livestock genetic diversity. V Preveda 2018 (s. 9). Banská Bystrica: Občianske združenie Preveda.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., TRAKOVICKÁ, A., KADLEČÍK, O. and KASARDA, R. (2019b). Genomic signatures of selection in cattle throught variation of allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 20(2), 576–580.MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., ŽIDEK, R., KASARDA, R., JAKABOVÁ, D., GENČÍK, M., POKORÁDI, J., MAJKO, P. and FERIANCOVÁ, E. (2020). Identification of genetic families based on mitochondrial D-loop sequence in population of the Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica). Biologia, 75(1), 121–128.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. and KASARDA, R. (2017). Casein polymorphism in relation to the milk production traits of Slovak spotted cattle. Agriculturae conspectus scientificus, 82(3), 255–258.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., KUKUČKOVÁ, V., NÁDASKÝ, R. and KASARDA, R. (2016). The associations of lepr and H-FABP gene polymorphisms with carcass traits in pigs. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 107(Suppl. 5), 189–194.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., NÁDASKÝ, R. and KASARDA, R. (2018a). Polymorphisms in candidate genes for beef quality in Pinzgau cattle. AGROFOR, 3(1), 5–10.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., NAVRÁTILOVÁ, A. and KASARDA, R. (2016). Carcass and meat quality in relation to the polymorphism in porcine MYF4 gene. Agriculture and Forestry, 62(4), 95–100.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., VAVRIŠÍNOVÁ, K., MILUCHOVÁ, M., GÁBOR, M. and KASARDA, R. (2018b). Effect of Calpastatin gene polymorphism on meat quality in cattle. V  Genetic days 2018 (s. 69). České Budějovice: University of South BohemiaTRAKOVICKÁ, A., VAVRIŠÍNOVÁ, K., GÁBOR, M., MILUCHOVÁ, M., KASARDA, R. and MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N. (2019). The impact of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 gene polymorphism on carcass traits in cattle. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 20(1), 12–18.TRAKOVICKÁ, A., VAVRIŠÍNOVÁ, K., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., MILUCHOVÁ, M., GÁBOR, M. and KASARDA, R. (2018c). The impact of polymorphism in thyroglobulin gene on beef quality. V AgroSym 2018, 1797–1801. Bosna University of East Sarajevo 2018: Bosna University of East Sarajevo.VLČEK, M. and KASARDA, R. (2017a). Genetic parameters of claw conformation in Slovak Holstein cows. V AgroSym 2017, 2208–2211. Sarajevo: Univerzitet u Sarajev.VLČEK, M. and KASARDA, R. (2017b). Metabolic status related to claw disorders. Acta fytotechnica et zootechnica, 20(1), 6–9.VLČEK, M., CANDRÁK, J. and KASARDA, R. (2016a). Fat-toprotein ratio: evaluation of metabolic disorders and milk yield. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 107(Suppl. 5), 76–79.VLČEK, M., TOMKA, J. and KASARDA, R. (2017c). Evaluation of claw conformation by using two methods of measuring-by ruler and image analysis. Agriculturae conspectus scientificus, 82(2), 193–196.VLČEK, M., ŽITNÝ, J. and KASARDA, R. (2016b). Changes of fat-to-protein ratio from start to the mid-lactation and the impact on milk yield. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 17(4), 1194–1203.VOSTRÁ VYDROVÁ, H., VOSTRÝ, L., HOFMANOVÁ, B., MORAVČÍKOVÁ, N., VESELÁ, Z., VRTKOVÁ, I., NOVOTNÁ, A. and KASARDA, R. (2018). Genetic diversity and admixture in three native draught horse breeds assessed using microsatellite markers. Czech journal of animal science, 63(3), 85–93

The Use of Demographic and Psychographic Segmentation to Creating Marketing Strategy of Brand Loyalty

With growing competition, loyal customers have become the key to the company's success. Brand loyalty has been a central structure for marketing for almost a century, yet this research topic is still modern and up to date. The aim of this contribution is to answer the research question of whether there are different segments of customers based on demographic and psychographic aspects that would differ in the level of brand loyalty in the company. In other words, do certain groups of company's customers (according to demographic or psychographic segmentation) have a higher degree of loyalty to the company's brand? To answer the research question, we have identified hypotheses expressing the existence of a statistical dependence between individual segmentation variable and the level of brand loyalty. Based on statistical testing of established hypotheses, we have confirmed the existence of certain company's segments that have a higher degree of loyalty.JEL Codes - M21; M3

The insectivorous sundew (Drosera rotundifolia, L.) might be a novel source of PR genes for biotechnology

The gene pool of insectivorous sundew, Drosera rotundifolia L., was studied to identify and analyse sequences encoding for pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. The digested genomic DNA was in ¿inverted¿ Southern hybridisation probed to 19 clones for PR genes from different plant sources. From representatives of PR subgroups 1¿5, 8 and 9, genes for glucanases (PR-2), chitinases (PR-3) and thaumatin-like proteins (PR-5) were hybridising. A PCR approach using degenerated primers was chosen to isolate sequences of sundew glucanase gene. Translation of a 500 bp long putative glucanase revealed similarity to catalytic domain of other glucanase amino acid sequences. Despite the peculiarity of this sequence, it contains all conserved amino acid residues important for catalysis. The sequence obtained in this study represents one of the first sequences encoding for nuclear genes in sundews reported, and brings the first evidence for presence of glucanases in sundew. The potential use of this sequence in biotechnology is considered as well

Tentacles of in vitro-grown round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.) show induction of chitinase activity upon mimicking the presence of prey

Induction of plant-derived chitinases in the leaves of a carnivorous plant was demonstrated using aseptically grown round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.). The presence of insect prey was mimicked by placing the chemical inducers gelatine, salicylic acid and crustacean chitin on leaves. In addition, mechanical stirring of tentacles was performed. Chitinase activity was markedly increased in leaf exudates upon application of notably chitin. Application of gelatine increased the proteolytic activity of leaf exudates, indicating that the reaction of sundew leaves depends on the molecular nature of the inducer applied. In situ hybridization of sundew leaves with a Drosera chitinase probe showed chitinase gene expression in different cell types of non-treated leaves, but not in the secretory cells of the glandular heads. Upon induction, chitinase mRNA was also present in the secretory cells of the sundew leaf. The combined results indicate that chitinase is likely to be involved in the decomposition of insect prey by carnivorous plants. This adds a novel role to the already broad function of chitinases in the plant kingdom and may contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the ecological success of carnivorous plants in nutritionally poor environment

Gene expression and splicing alterations analyzed by high throughput RNA sequencing of chronic lymphocytic leukemia specimens.

BackgroundTo determine differentially expressed and spliced RNA transcripts in chronic lymphocytic leukemia specimens a high throughput RNA-sequencing (HTS RNA-seq) analysis was performed.MethodsTen CLL specimens and five normal peripheral blood CD19+ B cells were analyzed by HTS RNA-seq. The library preparation was performed with Illumina TrueSeq RNA kit and analyzed by Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing system.ResultsAn average of 48.5 million reads for B cells, and 50.6 million reads for CLL specimens were obtained with 10396 and 10448 assembled transcripts for normal B cells and primary CLL specimens respectively. With the Cuffdiff analysis, 2091 differentially expressed genes (DEG) between B cells and CLL specimens based on FPKM (fragments per kilobase of transcript per million reads and false discovery rate, FDR q < 0.05, fold change >2) were identified. Expression of selected DEGs (n = 32) with up regulated and down regulated expression in CLL from RNA-seq data were also analyzed by qRT-PCR in a test cohort of CLL specimens. Even though there was a variation in fold expression of DEG genes between RNA-seq and qRT-PCR; more than 90 % of analyzed genes were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. Analysis of RNA-seq data for splicing alterations in CLL and B cells was performed by Multivariate Analysis of Transcript Splicing (MATS analysis). Skipped exon was the most frequent splicing alteration in CLL specimens with 128 significant events (P-value <0.05, minimum inclusion level difference >0.1).ConclusionThe RNA-seq analysis of CLL specimens identifies novel DEG and alternatively spliced genes that are potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets. High level of validation by qRT-PCR for a number of DEG genes supports the accuracy of this analysis. Global comparison of transcriptomes of B cells, IGVH non-mutated CLL (U-CLL) and mutated CLL specimens (M-CLL) with multidimensional scaling analysis was able to segregate CLL and B cell transcriptomes but the M-CLL and U-CLL transcriptomes were indistinguishable. The analysis of HTS RNA-seq data to identify alternative splicing events and other genetic abnormalities specific to CLL is an added advantage of RNA-seq that is not feasible with other genome wide analysis

The Use of Demographic and Psychographic Segmentation to Creating Marketing Strategy of Brand Loyalty

With growing competition, loyal customers have become the key to the company’s success. Brand loyalty has been a central structure for marketing for almost a century, yet this research topic is still modern and up to date. The aim of this contribution is to answer the research question of whether there are different segments of customers based on demographic and psychographic aspects that would differ in the level of brand loyalty in the company. In other words, do certain groups of company’s customers (according to demographic or psychographic segmentation) have a higher degree of loyalty to the company’s brand? To answer the research question, we have identified hypotheses expressing the existence of a statistical dependence between individual segmentation variable and the level of brand loyalty. Based on statistical testing of established hypotheses, we have confirmed the existence of certain company’s segments that have a higher degree of loyalty

Stable transformation of embryogenic tissues of Pinus nigra Arn. using a biolistic method

The stable transformation of embryogenic tissues of Pinus nigra Arn., cell line E104, has been achieved using a biolistic approach. The introduced DNA consisted of the uidA reporter gene under the control of the double CaMV 35S promoter and the nptII selection gene controlled by the single CaMV 35S promoter. Three days after bombardment, putative transformed tissues were selected for continued proliferation on a medium containing 20 mg geneticin l(-1). Resistant embryogenic tissue recovery required 10-12 weeks. The integration of the nptII and uidA genes was confirmed by both histochemical/fluorimetric GUS assays and PCR amplification of the inserts in the five geneticin resistant sub-lines of line E104. The activity of the uidA reporter gene in transgenic, embryogenic tissue lines was stable and could be detected after one year of culture. Somatic embryo maturation was, however, poor and no plantlet regeneration could be obtained